ExiledInIllinois Posted July 30, 2005 Share Posted July 30, 2005 You know, I read a joke somewhere about how the space shuttle was designed due to the specifications of a horse's arse, I'll have to dig it up... Ok, I found it: http://www.succulent-plant.com/ephemera01.html Imperial Rome and the Space Shuttle There's always a reason, and the smallest most unimagined thing could be that reason. At least it's a good story. The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US Railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since. And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever. So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses. Now the twist to the story... When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory at Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds. So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass... But Yet, so TRUE! I have quoted a historical study by NASA below: The director of NASA-Marshall, Eberhard Rees, had expressed hope that the shuttle would use a liquid booster, because that would provide more work for his center. Although he had been deeply involved with liquid rockets since the wartime V-2 effort, he now would have to change with the times. The Shuttle would use two 156-inch boosters, which were as large as could travel on American railroads. ref: Loftus et al., Evolution, p. 26; Astronautics & Aeronautics, January 1974, p. 72 394112[/snapback] Why not ship them by barge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo mike Posted July 30, 2005 Author Share Posted July 30, 2005 Amazed at how large these rocket boosters are- that's just one. You can click on the picture to get a better view. http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...07300325&Ref=AR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted July 30, 2005 Share Posted July 30, 2005 Amazed at how large these rocket boosters are- that's just one. You can click on the picture to get a better view. http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...07300325&Ref=AR 394151[/snapback] Why does it have to be shipped by rail? You can get anywhere throughout the south and east with 1200' x 105' dimensions. North, you can cut that to 600' long... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMadCap Posted July 30, 2005 Share Posted July 30, 2005 Why does it have to be shipped by rail? You can get anywhere throughout the south and east with 1200' x 105' dimensions. North, you can cut that to 600' long... 394177[/snapback] Because Thikol makes them in the middle of nowhere, utah... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo mike Posted July 30, 2005 Author Share Posted July 30, 2005 This is an absolute awesome video. Click on re-play of shuttle launch. http://www.floridatoday.com/multimedia/ret...ideogallery.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted July 31, 2005 Share Posted July 31, 2005 Because Thikol makes them in the middle of nowhere, utah... 394202[/snapback] Ahhh... I guess there could be a problem with that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMadCap Posted July 31, 2005 Share Posted July 31, 2005 This is an absolute awesome video. Click on re-play of shuttle launch. http://www.floridatoday.com/multimedia/ret...ideogallery.htm 394245[/snapback] Anybody see one where Discovery flattens the bird? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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